[Pete Buczkowski]

I'm not looking for overrated courses here but courses that are just a great experience, not because of the architecture but because of the overall atmosphere of the place.  It might be the unpretentious membership/clubhouse, or the stately oaks that take you back in time, or any other reasons to think the course is great other than the architecture.

You might be embarrassed to say how much you enjoy this particular course on GCA, but it holds a special place in your heart.  Go ahead...let it out.  I'm thinking, Santa Teresa-like places.

Pete

[Matthew MacKay]

I'd have to say Bigwin Island in the Muskoka region north of Toronto.  A boat ride is necessary to get to the course and the scenery is spectacular from a few of the elevated tees.

[THuckaby2]

 
Oh man, that last line cracked me up.  I doubt my beloved Santa Teresa would meet this standard for anyone besides me.  Hell it doesn't meet it FOR ME some of the time, as 11:00am tee times mean actual start time of 11:45, and rounds take nearly six hours.  But still it does have a warm place in my heart.

On a higher plane, and this might not be what you are after, I'd suggest Bandon Dunes.  Oh, the architecture works just fine for me, but others far more into this do criticize it.  But even they would have to admit the setting is fantastic, the people very nice, the experience a great one.

But then again, maybe not.  Maybe for these types the answer is NONE to a question like this?  That is, if the architecture doesn't meet their snuff the course isn't worth spending time at?

TH

[George Pazin]

You might be embarrassed to say how much you enjoy this particular course on GCA, but it holds a special place in your heart.  Go ahead...let it out.  I'm thinking, Santa Teresa-like places.

Pete

Along these lines, I think that for most people, the place where you learned the game probably fits the bill. My home course, North Park  Golf Course, the finest muni north of the 'Burgh, will always fill a special place in my heart. It is the one course where I can go and feel totally comfortable under virtually any circumstance.

Is it great? For me, definitely. Is it great architecturally? Hardly. It is a wonderful walk in the park, a routing that really flows well, but it is hardly great. No real strategic bunkers, generally bland greens, but I still look forward to any opportunity to tee it up there. It will probably always be home to me.

[Sean_A]

Pete

Good thread!  I would say Beau Desert, Circolo Golf Venezia, U of M Blue Course, Grosse Ile (Michigan), Worcester G & CC (Worcestershire).  I might add Kington, Conwy and Royal Blackheath.

Ciao

Sean

[Pete Buczkowski]

I'll be playing one this weekend - Ocean Links @ Amelia.  I have heard its nothing great architecturally, but superficial me will enjoy the hell out of the 5 ocean holes.  

Let me also add Milham Park Muni in Kalamazoo, MI.  Man, do I miss that place.  I'm usually not a tree lover but those old mature Oaks and the willow trees combined with the 1930s layout create quite an otherworldly atmosphere.

Pete

[Pete Buczkowski]

Oh man, that last line cracked me up.  I doubt my beloved Santa Teresa would meet this standard for anyone besides me.  Hell it doesn't meet it FOR ME some of the time, as 11:00am tee times mean actual start time of 11:45, and rounds take nearly six hours.  But still it does have a warm place in my heart.

Huck...I'm a little embarrased I stooped to get a cheap pop.  

[THuckaby2]

Aha!  The always-astute George Pazin hits at the heart of this just perfectly, as he damn near always does.

So add for me the beautiful and not challenging STUDIO CITY GOLF AND TENNIS, in lovely Studio City, CA.  I've bored people about it in here before.  It's a par 3 course with no hole over 135 yards.  There is some merit to the greens, as a few have some wild contour.  But the main claim to fame is it a range of choice for celebs, whacking balls killing time between takes in TV shows at nearby studios (hence the name).

But of course way more importantly, it is where I grew up playing the game, and holds a dearer place in my heart than any other... because these days, my Dad has also re-adopted it and plays two weekly games there, such that he in effect owns the place!

Prior to TKPIII last spring, I gave up a potential round at Bel Air to play Studio City with my Dad.  That ought to say enough.

 

[THuckaby2]

Oh man, that last line cracked me up.  I doubt my beloved Santa Teresa would meet this standard for anyone besides me.  Hell it doesn't meet it FOR ME some of the time, as 11:00am tee times mean actual start time of 11:45, and rounds take nearly six hours.  But still it does have a warm place in my heart.

Huck...I'm a little embarrased I stooped to get a cheap pop.  

No hassles by me.  I am nothing if not predictable, and well... I can't be any other way!  You had to know I couldn't let that go without comment.

 

[Brian_Gracely]

Pacific Grove

It's got a great location and the views on the back 9 are incredible.  But come on, other than 12 and 13, those holes are nothing that any of us with a bulldozer couldn't build without ever having visited GCA.com.  

But it's alot of fun to be able to play along the ocean, watch the sunset, and not have your bank account crushed like it would be down the way.

[Jason Topp]

MacKenzie was very critical of the architecture at Gleneagles Kings course.  I so thoroughly enjoyed playing there I didn't notice any problems.

Old Head fits squarely in this category.

[Mike_Young]

Pebble Beach

[Lance Rieber]

Buffalo Hills in Kalispell Mt.  $50 got you a junior pass for the season.  Great course but were my brother and I learned how to play.  Would go around as many times as we could and never get tired.  Great burgers in the log clubhouse too.
Lance

[Ted Kramer]

Pebble Beach

  wow, that is an opinion that I can't even begin to understand.
But hey, to each his own.

-Ted

[TEPaul]

Pete said;

"I'm not looking for overrated courses here but courses that are just a great experience, not because of the architecture but because of the overall atmosphere of the place.  It might be the unpretentious membership/clubhouse, or the stately oaks that take you back in time, or any other reasons to think the course is great other than the architecture."

Pete, you old excellent inquisitor! You know what, I think you just nailed something there in my mind. I would have to say that "the world's greatest hidden gem", the great Fernindina Beach Municipal G.C. almost exactly fills that bill you outlined there.

It was a great experience for me, it's membership (I doubt there is one), it's clubhouse could be the definition of unpretentious, and to be finally honest about it, its architecture is a whole lot different from great. But some of those Live Oaks are cool and the Spanish Moss on them in and around FBM is some of the best in the world!

The reason that golf course was so special to me (as I told you) was because the last time I was there (maybe three years ago) it had the aura of such a throw-back in time to me---to something like the mid 1950s in Florida when I grew up there. My dad was one of the best players in FLA back then (he died in '92) and with that feeling of a throw-back in time on that course I really did feel if I just turned around I'd see him there just like he was back then.

It was an eerie feeling, a shivering feeling, but really cool and super-memorable too---maybe one of those things some of us call "a MOMENT".

That's why I love FBM and came to call it "the world's true hidden gem". It never was about it's architecture.

I know I told you to "KEEP the CON" about it being a hidden gem but I feel like I probably should come clean. What would I say to a guy like David Moriarty if he happened to go there? He'd obviously accuse me of being ridiculous and pointless in my analysis of the architecture of the course. Then I'd tell him I was just trying to be funny and he would tell me that wasn't funny at all!  

[Pete Buczkowski]

Pete said;

"I'm not looking for overrated courses here but courses that are just a great experience, not because of the architecture but because of the overall atmosphere of the place.  It might be the unpretentious membership/clubhouse, or the stately oaks that take you back in time, or any other reasons to think the course is great other than the architecture."

Pete, you old excellent inquisitor! You know what, I think you just nailed something there in my mind. I would have to say that "the world's greatest hidden gem", the great Fernindina Beach Municipal G.C. almost exactly fills that bill you outlined there.

It was a great experience for me, it's membership (I doubt there is one), it's clubhouse could be the definition of unpretentious, and to be finally honest about it, its architecture is a whole lot different from great. But some of those Live Oaks are cool and the Spanish Moss on them in and around FBM is some of the best in the world!

The reason that golf course was so special to me (as I told you) was because the last time I was there (maybe three years ago) it had the aura of such a throw-back in time to me---to something like the mid 1950s in Florida when I grew up there. My dad was one of the best players in FLA back then (he died in '92) and with that feeling of a throw-back in time on that course I really did feel if I just turned around I'd see him there just like he was back then.

It was an eerie feeling, a shivering feeling, but really cool and super-memorable too---maybe one of those things some of us call "a MOMENT".

That's why I love FBM and came to call it "the world's true hidden gem". It never was about it's architecture.

I know I told you to "KEEP the CON" about it being a hidden gem but I feel like I probably should come clean. What would I say to a guy like David Moriarty if he happened to go there? He'd obviously accuse me of being ridiculous and pointless in my analysis of the architecture of the course. Then I'd tell him I was just trying to be funny and he would tell me that wasn't funny at all!  

Dammit Tom!  Our discussion inspired this thread but in no way were you supposed to come clean on here!  I hope you just keep the real reason between you & I.    And I'll be damned if I am going to post pictures of this course now...let all of these architectural enthusiasts do the heavy lifting themselves!

And I even threw the Amelia Ocean Links in there to throw people off the scent...
 

[Kyle Harris]

For me the Blue and White Courses at Penn State...

Though the White Course had some very interesting old holes.

[TEPaul]

Pete:

Sorry about that! The inveterate and on-going lack of a SENSE of humor on here made me do it!

[Pete Buczkowski]

Now Tom I thought you were the champion of the anit-smiley brigade, and here you are putting on the smileys.  I don't know what happened in the last couple of days but so help me God I hope it wasn't me.  I did play with JakaB after all.  

[TEPaul]

"Now Tom I thought you were the champion of the anit-smiley brigade, and here you are putting on the smileys.  I don't know what happened in the last couple of days but so help me God I hope it wasn't me."

Sorry about those smiley's Pete. No, it's not a thing to do with you. A couple of years ago our excellent text editor on here, Dan Kelly, told me if I wanted to be funny, do it with words---not smileys, because the idea is to make the words work that way and if they do the smiley's are redundant and hurt the cause.

But recently despite some of my best text efforts at humor some on here like DavidM and Tom MacW seem either so super-serious, sarcastic (I actually just learned that's Moriarty's standard modus ), smug or just plain evasive I thought I'd use smileys again to see it either of them actually had any blood flowing, if you know what I mean.

[Mark Brown]

Old Tabby Links, Spring Island, SC
Pebble Beach

[David_Tepper]

At the risk of offending my fellow members, I would join with B. Klein and T. Doak in placing the OC Lake Course in this category.  It is a tough and challenging course. Certainly a lot of memorable, historic golf has been played there over the years. The fact that it has hosted 4 US Opens, 2 US Amateurs and 1 USGA Junior (with more to come) speaks directly to what a great test of golf the Lake Course offers.

Yet the course seems to lack a certain visual charm and the bunkering is rather plain.  In the past, the course has been criticized (by Nicklaus and others) for the several doglegs that turn against, rather than with, the slope of the fairway (i.e. holes 2, 4 & 5).

Maybe I am just frusrated from playing too many lousy rounds of golf there!

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